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Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

Question period focused on the immigration minister and reports that a person with ties to Iran’s IRGC may have entered Canada despite being inadmissible. Conservative members said the minister mishandled the case, that the government cannot track whether people leave when permits expire, and called on the Prime Minister to remove her. Government ministers replied that IRGC members and senior Iranian officials are barred from entering Canada, that no IRGC member was admitted, that anyone with such ties in Canada faces removal, and pointed to lower asylum and temporary resident numbers, increased removals, and an immigration and border security bill as evidence the system is being strengthened.Written by AI from the debate. Updated .

Official text

10 statements

Costas Menegakis

Conservative

Linked statement

“The immigration minister failed to stop a known terrorist from entering Canada. The government will not let her answer questions about it. I want the Prime Minister to explain why she still has her job.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Immigration bungled a simple decision to stop a known IRGC terrorist from entering our country, and Canadians still do not have clear evidence that the terrorist was stopped and turned back. There are reports, in fact, that say he just turned himself around and left the country. The Liberals are keeping the minister from answering questions, because they are concerned about what she will say next. Everyone is wondering why the Prime Minister is protecting the minister and not letting her answer questions. Can he tell Canadians, please, why she still has a job?

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Gary Anandasangaree

Liberal
“Senior Iranian officials and IRGC members are not allowed into Canada. If they are already here, we will remove them quickly.”

  • Government answer in Question Period

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  • A repeated line

    “We will continue to work with our border, immigration and law enforcement agencies to ensure the safety and security of all Canadians.”

    Said 7 times by 3 members since April 30.

    Every time it was said
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, ensuring the safety and security of Canadians is our top priority. I want to assure all Canadians that Canada has rigorous admissibility requirements. We have been very clear that IRGC members and all senior Iranian officials are inadmissible to Canada. If they are already in Canada, they will go through a removals process expeditiously. We will continue to work with our border, immigration and law enforcement agencies to ensure the safety and security of all Canadians.

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Vincent Ho

Conservative
“The immigration minister let a person tied to the Iranian regime enter Canada, and the Prime Minister is still letting her keep her job. I want to know who will take responsibility for this failure.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal immigration minister says she is “accountable” but not responsible for dropping the ball when letting terrorists into Canada. Letting in a known terrorist should have set off every alarm bell in the Liberal government, yet just last week, the visitor permit of an Iranian regime-linked individual was specifically exempted and his entry into Canada rubber-stamped under the Liberal minister’s watch. A simple Google search could have stopped this. Worse, the Liberal Prime Minister is letting the minister keep her job. Does that mean the Prime Minister is responsible but not accountable for the failures of his Liberal immigration minister?

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Gary Anandasangaree

Liberal
“No members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were allowed into Canada. Members of that group and senior Iranian officials cannot enter the country. If anyone here has ties to the group, we work to remove them.”

  • A repeated line

    “We will continue to work with our border, immigration and law enforcement agencies to ensure the safety and security of all Canadians.”

    Said 7 times by 3 members since April 30.

    Every time it was said
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, I want to assure all Canadians that no IRGC member was admitted into Canada. Our government has been clear that IRGC members and all senior officials of the Iranian government are inadmissible to Canada. We have rigorous processes in place to ensure that anyone in the country who has ties to the IRGC goes through a removals process. We will continue to work with our border, immigration and law enforcement agencies to ensure the safety and security of all Canadians.

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Fred Davies

Conservative
“Reporters say the immigration minister is doing a terrible job. The Prime Minister is responsible for her failures. I want him to fire her.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, the media panels have given up on this immigration minister. Bob Fife, the bureau chief of The Globe and Mail, called her performance “pathetic” and her “incompetent” twice in the same panel. Even CBC’s David Cochrane said, “when they fall back on privacy, process and the passive voice, it’s usually a sign of some trouble.” Immigration is a serious issue and the Prime Minister is ultimately accountable for the minister’s failures. When will the Prime Minister finally take responsibility, and fire this minister?

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Lena Metlege Diab

Liberal
“Our government is fixing the immigration system. We brought in new programs to help the economy, rural towns, researchers, and French speakers, and we are bringing in 5,000 more doctors.”

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Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the love from members on the other side. I know they know that we are restoring control, balance, sustainability and integrity to our immigration system. The facts show this. We have new express entry categories to grow our economy. We have strengthened our rural immigration pathways. We are facilitating work permits for researchers and Ph.D. students. We have surpassed our francophone immigration targets. The list can go on. We have 5,000 additional physicians coming to—

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Brad Redekopp

Conservative
“The Minister of Immigration cannot do her job well. People have lost faith in her, and even some Liberal MPs want her gone. I want the Prime Minister to fire her.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, wow, I did not know that we had express entry for terrorists. It is clear that everyone has lost faith in the Minister of Immigration overseeing even the simplest parts of her job. This is the seventh Liberal immigration minister, and Conservatives knew from day one that she would make the mess worse. The media are now calling for the minister to be removed. Liberal MPs have called for this minister to be removed. This is now about the Prime Minister’s own judgment. She says that she meets with the Prime Minister every week. He seems oblivious to the mess she has created. Will the Prime Minister end this national embarrassment and fire this immigration minister?

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Lena Metlege Diab

Liberal
“We are fixing the immigration system by lowering numbers and improving oversight. Border officers removed 22,000 people from Canada last year. We also introduced a bill to increase security and started tracking who leaves the country.”

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Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, let me continue with my list because I need a couple of hours for that. We are bringing our numbers down. We are strengthening oversight. We have an action plan that would restore integrity to our immigration system. CBSA removed 22,000 people from the country last year. We brought in Bill C-12, which the Conservatives opposed in the beginning, but they saw the light at the end. That bill will put additional security in place. I have also put in place the foundation of an exit tracking system, which Canada needs in this country.

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Michelle Rempel Garner

Conservative
“The government is giving out tens of thousands of new student visas, even though it cannot track whether people leave when their permits expire. There is also unchecked fraud in the department. I want to know if the Prime Minister actually thinks the minister is doing a good job.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, today the minister said that she would continue issuing tens of thousands of new foreign student permits, in spite of millions of non-citizens being in Canada on expired or expiring permits and her admission that the Liberals have absolutely no way to track whether or not they have left. Fraud is still running unchecked in her department. They cannot detect it. When asked in committee what the Prime Minister thought of these failures, the minister claimed she has weekly meetings with him and that she talks to him all the time. That begs the question, does the Prime Minister actually think she is doing a good job?

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Lena Metlege Diab

Liberal
“Compared to two years ago, asylum claims are down by two-thirds and temporary resident arrivals have dropped by over 70%. We are bringing balance and control back to our immigration system.”

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Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, let us talk about the official figures. If we compare the first two months of 2026 with the first two months of 2024, we see that asylum applications have fallen by two-thirds and that arrivals of temporary residents have dropped by more than 70%. We are restoring control, balance and sustainability to immigration. The facts prove it, and Canadians can see it for themselves.

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